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Road noise reductions - Hard top Questions !

One thing that is bugging me is the amount of road noise in the cockpit of a Roadster 2.5 with the soft-top on above about 60mph, especially when cruising at 80mph'ish which I do quite a lot of.

At the moment it seems a bit pointless using audio system or trying to make a call, and on long journeys its tiresome. Its not so much noise around the window frames, but more to do with the wind roar over soft-top.

I'd like to ask if there are any forum members out there who can offer an opinion on the reduction in general wind noise / roar when using a hard top. Is it 'a bit better', or significantly better ?

Has anyone tried a lined Elise S2 short or long hard-top on a Tesla ? In theory this should work ...

Bearing in mind a long top covers the roll bar, is there any noise / ruffling differences between the long and short hard tops ?

I have a 1.5 Roadster where I added the sound reduction package AND added 4 kits of Dynamat for a further reduction. While I would not say it is quiet I can use the hands free at 60 mph and the radio is fine at 70. I have not tried at 80 as my wife has warned me many times, the roadster, screams ticket me!

I have the long hard top and with my car there is very little reduction in sound between the hard top and the soft top. Now there are times where the soft top is not properly seated when the noise is noticably worse. But when properly seated I do not notice much difference between the two.

Part of my annoyance with the hard top is there is a noticable creak as one goes over uneven roads. I have tried silicone and vaseline to no avail and have been told by several that is a feature of a convertable. Maybe you could find an owner nearby that has the hard top and you can try it out. It only takes about 5 minutes to install.

In my experience, the hard top is noticeably quieter, but don't expect miracles. Eliminating any wind leaks will have a bigger effect. Once you have cured any wind leaks, the hard top will provide an additional improvement mainly by eliminating the sound of air rushing over the top.

With the hard top installed and no wind leaks, the tires are the largest remaining noise source. The stock tires are somewhat noisy; I've found that T1R's are noticeably quieter with only a modest reduction in traction.

My hardtop was delivered and installed two weeks ago. It's definitely quieter than the soft top, especially at low speeds, but at highway speeds there is still wind noise around the seals. It's better than the soft top, but don't expect it to turn a convertible into a coupe. My ranger installed a few extra strips of foam padding and I haven't noticed any creaks while driving. It seems a bit warmer too by cutting down on drafts, I'm happy I made the switch for the winter.

My hardtop was delivered and installed two weeks ago. It's definitely quieter than the soft top, especially at low speeds, but at highway speeds there is still wind noise around the seals. It's better than the soft top, but don't expect it to turn a convertible into a coupe. My ranger installed a few extra strips of foam padding and I haven't noticed any creaks while driving. It seems a bit warmer too by cutting down on drafts, I'm happy I made the switch for the winter.

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Thanks for your feedback. I'm fairly certain that I'll have to wait for the Model S, X, etc before a Tesla EV will be coupe-quiet

But same question as last post - could I ask what particular hard-top you have, short/long ? .. is it double skinned and/or lined ?

Tesla only has one length of the hard top available to order, I assume it's the longer one since as Doug mentioned it extends past the roll bar. Interestingly it was shipped with a label that said "Lotus/Tesla" so it could be the same part.

My ranger installed a few extra strips of foam padding and I haven't noticed any creaks while driving.

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djp, does the foam padding eliminate the creaking? If so can you describe what your ranger did to reduce the noise? How think was the foam? I tried a large piece of felt and that did not work for me. I would like to give something else a try. Being more than 400 miles from a service center I have only seen the ranger once. Thank you

Tesla only has one length of the hard top available to order, I assume it's the longer one since as Doug mentioned it extends past the roll bar. Interestingly it was shipped with a label that said "Lotus/Tesla" so it could be the same part.

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Here's a slightly confusing summary of my findings on hard top roofs !

Tesla only seem to make one type of hardtop, that extends over the roll bar. Available in painted form, or CF, both with excessively high UK prices. Apparently this also fits an Elise S2, but you'd be mad to buy a Tesla one to put on a Lotus …

There are two main types of hardtop for the Elise S2 - (1) a short hard top which takes up the same area as the soft top, and (2) a long-tail hardtop which extends over the roll bar and down over the buttresses.

A few years ago there were two companies making amazing looking 'gull wing' roofs for Elise S2's which would have been superb if they worked. However, none of them were particularly water tight. Would be interesting to follow this up with an improved design ..

Tesla UK say the Lotus S2 short hard top will work with a Tesla. However, the long-tail Lotus hard top will not work because it extends back too far and will prevent the rear clamshell from opening …

I'm going to see an Elise S2 owning friend next week and try putting his hardtop on my Tesla. If this works it means I can acquire a lotus one for $500-600 … and therefore avoid splashing out $4,000 on a Tesla one, or $5,600 on the CF Tesla one !

djp, does the foam padding eliminate the creaking? If so can you describe what your ranger did to reduce the noise? How think was the foam? I tried a large piece of felt and that did not work for me. I would like to give something else a try. Being more than 400 miles from a service center I have only seen the ranger once. Thank you

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On other cars I've had great success eliminating squeaks using 3M "Ultra High Molecular Weight" tape applied in small patches out of sight.

UHMW tape is extremely slippery and very tough, and can be used to stop creaking between plastic/rubber parts in cars. But very few people seem to know about it ! It must be that catchy bunch of letters..

Its available as transparent or coloured tape. You can also use it on areas like alloy sill covers, where shoe scuffing is a problem. You can remove it and clean off with white spirit, leaving pristine alloy underneath.

My hard top started creaking recently, and my Ranger replaced some foam pieces, which completely fixed it. There were some foam pads on the roof that had worn off. He replaced them with strips of stick-on foam weatherstripping. This weatherstripping is a type that slowly expands once it is released from the roll; as it expands it form-fits to the space available. The new strips completely eliminated the creaking.

He said the foam was weatherstripping is available at Canadian Tire (that's a hardware store to you non-Canadians).

Here's a slightly confusing summary of my findings on hard top roofs !

Tesla only seem to make one type of hardtop, that extends over the roll bar. Available in painted form, or CF, both with excessively high UK prices. Apparently this also fits an Elise S2, but you'd be mad to buy a Tesla one to put on a Lotus …

There are two main types of hardtop for the Elise S2 - (1) a short hard top which takes up the same area as the soft top, and (2) a long-tail hardtop which extends over the roll bar and down over the buttresses.

A few years ago there were two companies making amazing looking 'gull wing' roofs for Elise S2's which would have been superb if they worked. However, none of them were particularly water tight. Would be interesting to follow this up with an improved design ..

Tesla UK say the Lotus S2 short hard top will work with a Tesla. However, the long-tail Lotus hard top will not work because it extends back too far and will prevent the rear clamshell from opening …

I'm going to see an Elise S2 owning friend next week and try putting his hardtop on my Tesla. If this works it means I can acquire a lotus one for $500-600 … and therefore avoid splashing out $4,000 on a Tesla one, or $5,600 on the CF Tesla one !

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